On the eve of the Scottish Parliament election, the SNP has gained a council seat in a sensational breakthrough, achieving swings from all London-led parties in the Wick ward by-election for Highland Council.

The by-election was held yesterday and announced this morning, and shows the winning candidate – Gail Ross – achieving almost 50% of the vote on first preferences.

The ward lies in the Scottish Parliament constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Ross where the SNP’s Rob Gibson is in contention with the LibDems who notionally hold the seat.

The SNP vote rose from 17% in May 2007 to 47% today, whilst the LibDems lost over a third of their vote – falling from 16% to 10%.

The swings from each of the London parties to the SNP was 12.2% from Labour; 17.8% from the LibDems; and 15.0% from the Tories.